In every generation, an individual Jew is
obligated to view himself as having left
Egypt. As it is written: "And you shall tell
your child on that day that this is on
account of what the Lord did for me when
I came out of Egypt." Exodus 13:8
One honors the Israel Defense Forces and a
whole series was created for use by children.
Alterman owns several Haggadot commis-
sioned by families for their own personal use and
then later published commercially.
Even "give-away" Haggadot have their place on
the shelves. "These are the free ones given by
Manischewitz or Coca-Cola or Maxwell House,"
he said. "I have the Maxwell House editions
copyrighted every year since the first one in
1930."
While 95 percent of the collection are actual
Haggadot, Alterman said, "the rest are books of history
and instruction and others linked to the seder experi-
ence."
A large manila envelope also stands with the books,
filled with magazine articles, newspaper clippings and
flyers about Haggadot and Haggadah collections.
Haggadot On The Road
When Lori Barron of Birmingham began to organize a
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Haggadah
display last winter, she found a few community mem-
bers with one or two interesting Haggadot — and she
found Irwin Alterman, who shared several dozen.
In the past, Alterman's Haggadot have made an
appearance in exhibits sponsored by the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit and Adat
Shalom Synagogue, where he is a past president.
"The idea for an exhibit stems from my husband,
Marc Barron, who is an avid collector of art and other
cultural items," said Barron, chairperson of the exhibit,
a first-time project held in conjunction with the
Women's Seder, an annual educational and outreach
event of Federation's Women's Campaign and
Education Department.
The Barron included their own personal, family
Haggadah in the 100-book exhibit. "It is a text that
has been adapted over the years to suit the growing
needs of our family,-" she said. "We feel that having a
customized seder adds to the intimacy of our Passover
ritual."
Irwin Alterman leafi through one o his more than 700 Haggadot.
The Art Of The Haggadah
Many of Alterman's Haggadot have pages that could
very well be framed and displayed as striking works of
art.
"Some artists — many Israeli — have compiled
Haggadot including their own individual artwork,"
Alterman said. "The artistic creativity is mind-bog-
gling."
He has studied artists' renditions of subjects includ-
ing the Four Sons, the crossing of the Red Sea and the
10 plagues.
He has reprints of several well-known illuminated
manuscripts on display in the world's major libraries
and museums. "And most of them are beautiful in
their own right," he said of those that include gold-
leafed letters and illustrations and uneven, browned
page borders that appear as the originals did. Among
them is the one Alterman calls, "the prize of the collec-
tion."
"It is called the Barcelona Haggadah and is nearly
identical to the one housed in the British Library," he
said of a large leather-bound, boxed manuscript from
the mid-14th century.
And then there's the reproduction of the illustrated
version of the final song in the Haggadah, Chad
Gadya, by arti t El Lissitzky, whose original sits in the
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
Another prominent and vivid illumination is the
replica of the Moss Haggadah by Israeli artist David
Moss, originally commissioned by a private family and
s
later reproduced in limited numbers.
Alterman is especially proud of a reproduction of a •
Haggadah he says is perhaps the most well known of
the illuminated manuscripts — the Sarajevo Haggadah.
The subject of a 1996 segment of Nightline with Ted
Koppel, the Haggadah was discovered in 1894, when
it was purchased by a book dealer from a family in
financial trouble. When it ended up in the Bosnian
National Museum, it was discovered to have originated
in the late-14th century and was printed in the north
of Spain. Its journey was assumed to have paralleled
the exile of Jews from Spain, spending time in Italy
before arriving in Sarajevo.
Attempts by Nazis during World War II to steal the
famed Haggadah, estimated to have been worth mil-
lions of dollars, were thwarted by Bosnians who hid
the book. The original Haggadah was printed on
leather pages, whose wine-stains and tiny child-like
drawings are clearly visible in Alterman's reproduction.
Amidst the remarkable and distinctive Haggadot he
owns is one that is among his most treasured posses-
sions. And its appeal has nothing to do with its curious
accordion-like style, allowing it to open from the right
for one-half of the seder and the left for the other. It
has nothing to do with its atypical long, thin shape or
its interior artistry.
"The most valuable Haggadah I own is valuable for
a personal reason," Alterman said. "It is because it
holds all the original signatures of everyone who
ever attended any seder in any year in my home." CI
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2004